[VIDEO] Event: Political Policing & Oppressive Legislation
It was standing room only, as several dozen gathered in the conference room of Belfast’s Conway Mill yesterday evening [Thursday 30th of January] to discuss the ongoing use of legislation by the British state, as a tool of political harassment.
Pádraic MacCoitir (Right)
The proceedings were opened by Pádraic MacCoitir who chaired the event. Pádraic detailed his experiences of political activism over many decades, and the use of different forms of legislation during those years; from house raids to ‘Stop & Searches’ as a method of supposed intimidation.
Political and community activist Risteárd Ó Murchú, a republican ex-prisoner, provided an account of the harassment he has received in more recent times at the hands of the PSNI. Detailing how that harassment affected not just him but also his family, Risteárd noted that it is clear that certain legislation, specifically the ‘Justice and Security Act’, is utilised as a tool of isolation.
Risteárd Ó Murchú (Left)
The manner in which certain ‘Stop & Searches’ are conducted lend truth to this, where a supposed ‘search’ often doesn’t actually take place in any effective manner; an example being where a vehicle has been stopped and the occupants very publicly searched by the side of the road, but oftentimes the vehicle is not searched at all.
Solicitor Michael Brentnall of Brentnall Legal continued proceedings, giving a short synopsis of different forms of legislation over the years, culminating in the current use of the ‘Terrorism Act’, the ‘Justice and Security Act’ and more recently the ‘Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019’; the latter, like those before it, raising some serious questions about the potential use of the Act as a tool of harassment and circumvention of basic human rights.
Michael Brentnall of Brentnall Legal (Centre)
The event was brought to a close with a very informative Q&A session, where attendees helped to tease out some of the serious question marks now being raised by the new legislation.
Full VIDEO below:
